JEDDAH: One of the first of a number of COVID-19 vaccine centers planned for Saudi Arabia opened its doors in Jeddah on Friday, with Dr. Hani Jokhdar, deputy minister for public health, predicting the facility would reach its expected capacity of up to 10,000 visitors daily within three weeks.
“The first center opened at the South Terminal of King Abdul Aziz International Airport and holds 86 vaccine clinics,” the deputy minister said.
“We’ll be reaching full capacity within weeks. We’re preparing to open more clinics in the terminal to reach a total of more than 450 clinics.”
Saudi Arabia recorded 178 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, raising the total number since the beginning of the pandemic to 361,903.
There are currently 2,920 active cases, 376 of which are in critical care units.
FASTFACTS
361,903 Total cases
352,815 Recoveries
6,168 Deaths
The Riyadh region recorded the highest number of cases in the Kingdom with 44 cases, followed by Makkah and Madinah with 31 cases each, and the Eastern Province with 29. Remaining regions recorded fewer than 10 cases each.
A total of 207 recoveries were recorded, raising the overall number to 352,815. The Kingdom’s recovery rate is holding steady at 97.48 percent.
Riyadh, with 25 recoveries, had the highest daily recovery rate among cities in the Kingdom, followed by Makkah with 15, Jeddah with 14 and Yanbu with 13.
Nine new deaths were recorded, raising the total mortality rate to 6,168.
A total of 32,339 polymerase chain reaction tests were conducted in the past 24 hours. The Kingdom has conducted over 10.8 million tests since the start of the pandemic.
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